Man Uses Toy Gun During Mall Parking Lot Robbery, Surveillance Shows

Police are aiming to track down a man in Richmond Heights, Missouri, that used a fake toy gun to rob another man Friday at the Saint Louis Galleria mall parking lot. The robber made previous plans to meet with his victim to buy a cellphone from him in the mall's parking section.

The Richmond Heights Police Department (RHPD) was called upon at 12:45 p.m. to inspect a robbery that reportedly occurred at the Missouri-based mall, according to KMOV. This wasn't a random act, however, as the suspect pulled out a gun and robbed the victim in the midst of their cell phone transaction. The suspect seemingly robbed the unidentified man of his cellphone and cash.

"This was a very targeted incident and there was no threat to shoppers," RHPD Chief Doug Schaeffler told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "You would think a parking lot is a good place, but there's not a whole lot of people out there."

"I would recommend you go to a much more public place and you are much better off at a police station lot because not a lot of bad people are going to be willing to meet you there," Schaeffler added.

As the robber fled the scene, police said he tossed the gun out of his vehicle's window. The supposed weapon landed on the ramp of Brentwood Blvd. heading towards Westbound I-64. Police later identified the suspect's gun to be a fake, toy.

The investigation is still underway as the RHPD police chief is currently working with detectives to examine surveillance video footage of the incident.

This wouldn't be the first time that a person has used a fake weapon to rob another. A then 16-year-old teen was charged with armed-robbery in 2015 after he used a toy gun to rob residents at two different apartment complexes. A man attempted to rob a Starbucks in Fresno, California, with a knife and a toy gun in July, but a customer wrestled the knife away and the robber fled the scene.